News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Steve Swisher is thankful to be alive, thankful to be with his family and thankful to be living in a community that has demonstrated the depths of its love and appreciation for him through a terrible crisis.
Swisher nearly died in a head-on collision on Highway 20 at the east end of town on Friday, September 22. Though he was only vaguely aware of it, he faced death several more times in subsequent days, before his condition stabilized.
That kind of experience makes the approach of our national day of Thanksgiving particularly meaningful.
"It's an opportunity to be especially thankful for life and family and friends and most of all for a caring community," he said. "There's no other place in the world I'd rather live."
The aftermath has also raised some fundamental -- and perhaps unanswerable -- questions. Swisher acknowledges that he has asked himself more than once why he is still here.
Reflecting on tragedies that have touched others, a colleague's loss of a child in an accident, he has pondered "why a young man dies and I survive."
Swisher said he always considered himself a spiritual man, but confessed that he did not think much about it in the day-to-day. His accident has changed that.
"It affirmed my belief in a higher being and the belief that that higher being probably has a plan for me and it wasn't time to go yet," Swisher said.
While he and his wife Novella are deeply moved by outpouring of love and support they received in the wake of the accident, Swisher acknowledges a certain discomfort.
He recognizes that, though Sisters is an extraordinarily giving community, there are others who have needs and face suffering who have not received the kind of attention he has received.
He recognizes that he has a high profile in the community, but the attention raises some other questions for him.
"Will I be as sensitive and responsive to others in need? Have I given enough?" he asks himself.
Swisher's life is not all contemplation. He has resumed some of the school district's work and he has launched a demanding course of physical rehabilitation.
And he worries about the demands his care and recovery place on Novella.
In a sense, he says, the trauma of the accident was worse for her than it was for him.
"She was the one who was conscious and worrying whether I was going to live or die," he said.
Novella has had to manage his care day-to-day, which, despite lots of help from friends and family, is a heavy, ongoing burden.
"She's doing good, but I think she's really tired," Swisher said.
Swisher probably will need to have surgery on one of his knees. It was injured in the accident, but the extent of the injury wasn't clear and the surgeon opted to wait and deal with more serious injuries first.
The realization that he'll have to go under the knife for a third time "is a setback," Swisher admits.
"Any thought of cutting on me isn't real exciting," he said.
But, he is quick to note, he isn't complaining. Swisher is keeping his eye firmly on the big picture. And for the chance to do that, he is truly thankful.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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